Courting the King

By Phil Hecken, on January 10th, 2009

By Phil Hecken

A little over a month ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBrons came to town, my town, to play the New York Knicks. Anyone who’s been following professional basketball for the past, oh, decade or so, knows about the sorry state of that franchise from the Big Apple. Slightly lesser known, but still not exactly a well-kept secret, is that one of Cleveland’s biggest Yankees fans is slated to become a free agent following the 2009-10 season. So aside from just the usual hype of a “LeBron in the Garden” matchup vs. the Knicks (featuring yet another new sneaker from Nike), speculation that “LeBron’s free agency” equals “LeBron will be a Knick” began anew.

If this had all happened 20 years ago, New York fans would only be able to imagine what LeBron would look like in a Knicks uni. But today, thanks to Photoshop, fans can create their own custom versions of LeBron as a Knick. Lots and lots of these digital creations have appearing across the Interwebs — some very good ones, some very bad ones, and some in between — all of them whetting New Yorkers’ appetites to the possibility that LeBron in Knicks clothes may be closer to reality than fantasy.

But I digress. Even fake NBA-themed ads have been circulating, along with all the interesting photoshops. It’s enough to make New Yorkers long to see this about 41 times a year, plus the playoffs (which would surely follow a LeBron signing, right?). For their part, Knick fans have been courting the King at every chance. Will their love (and LeBron’s love of money and stated desire to become the sports world’s first billionaire) be enough to bring the King to the Big Apple?

Photoshops of athletes in teams they never played for are nothing new. But they sure are fun. Even in the days before Photoshop, artists and engineers have been doing it. Your assignment today is to find your favorite athlete in a uniform he or she never wore. Let’s see what we can come up with, people.

NFL Divisional Playoff Picks: Here are my picks for the NFL Divisional Playoffs, based on the “Old School” method of selecting winners. All games are using the spread as of Friday evening. Last week yielded a 2-2 split. Saturday’s Games:Baltimore Ravens (-1.5) at Tennessee Titans, 4:30 pm Eastern — Flaming Thumb Tacks vs. Ugly Purple Birds — Home Dog gets the points — take the Titans; Arizona Cardinals (+5.5) at Carolina Panthers, 8:15 pm Eastern — Red Birds vs. Black Cats — Felines win every time, even giving away 5 and a half; Sunday’s Games:Philadelphia Eagles (+2) at New York Giants, 1:00 pm Eastern — Large creatures against National Bird — G-men roll towards SBXLIII, spotting the Iggles only 2; San Diego Chargers (+3) at Pittsburgh Steelers, 4:45 pm Eastern — Lightning Bolts vs. US Steel — Stillers take the charge and remain standing, giving up only a field goal. There you have it, let’s roll.

107 comments to Courting the King

Ive been looking at some old pictures of the Turn ahead the clock unis recently, and I cant seem to find any of the back of the Arizona Diamondbacks except for and I was wondering if they had ever put numbers or names on them.

Nick Niedzwiadek|
January 10, 2009 at 9:00 am |

Ive been looking at some old pictures of the Turn ahead the clock unis recently, and I cant seem to find any of the back of the Arizona Diamondbacks except for this and I was wondering if they had ever put numbers or names on them.

Speaking of LeBron. I was just watching the tiny kitchen TV and some Boston-Cleveland highlights were on. I glanced up and thought it was the Lakers for a second or two. (Is that the second straight game for them wearing those stupid blue unis at home?)

What the hell happened to the Celtics, anyway? Weren’t they on pace to win, like, 78 games a week or so ago?

I present this and this.
Commentary: Found side-by-side on this website. Obviously posted before their draft. Obviously, Oden’s is less wrong than Durant’s picture. Oden is pictured with his collegiate #20, which is a Portland retired number for Maurice Lucas. Similarly, though I doubt I will find it, ESPN’s Page 2 had a Photoshop of Durant in a Celtics uniform, with HIS collegiate #35, even though Boston retired #35 for Reggie Lewis.

jon|
January 10, 2009 at 10:41 am |

[quote comment=”309442″][quote comment=”309436″]Li Phil:
Do you like the Steelers current number style on their jerseys or do you like the vintage block numbers which they had until 1996? GO STEEELRS !!!!!![/quote]

is there any other team at any level that uses that font? just curious. i like how it seems that the steelers are the only team with it. most teams have some form of block numbers, so these are a refreshing change. the best franchise in football deserves that kind of uniqueness. and putting the logo on the chest was a great improvement. i still remember how happy i was to get a bettis jersey with the new style when i was eight after having a rod woodson jersey in the old style before that.

jc|
January 10, 2009 at 10:53 am |

Nick, if i’m not mistaken, the diamondacks had the uni numbers on their pantlegs a la the tequila sunrise astros and beachblanket white sox. but there was no name on the uni at all.

Johnny F.|
January 10, 2009 at 10:56 am |

Phil! Great job, bud. I was wonderingw here you got those point spreads from. My “source”, and other “sources” have the spreads at NYG -4, Carolina -10, Titans -3 and Steelers -6.

Weird numbers you have. A couple of those are a HUGE difference.

As far as LeBron as a Knick…we can only hope. The best part about what the Knicks are doing, is that even if LeBron isn’t a Knick, they will be in the position to land at the least 2 or 3 top-tier FA’s. Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, LeBron James, Steve Nash…just to name a few FA’s in the summer of ’10. Give me 2 of those 4 + D’Antoni, and I’m one excited New Yorker!

Let’s not be too harsh on Patrick either. He was a “savior” in the sense that he brought the Knicks out of a terrible stretch, got them to the playoffs frequently, and made them matter in NYC again. He just happened to play when another number #23 was doing some pretty amazing things. No Jordan’s Bulls, and Patrick probably has a ring or 2. I feel strongly that Patrick still gets unfair media treatment. One of the 50 best NBA players of all-time.

To play the game, here’s my favorite picture of a guy who never played for the team he’s shown in (tell me this isn’t GREAT)…

[quote comment=”309444″][quote comment=”309442″][quote comment=”309436″]Li Phil:
Do you like the Steelers current number style on their jerseys or do you like the vintage block numbers which they had until 1996? GO STEEELRS !!!!!![/quote]

is there any other team at any level that uses that font? just curious. i like how it seems that the steelers are the only team with it. most teams have some form of block numbers, so these are a refreshing change. the best franchise in football deserves that kind of uniqueness. and putting the logo on the chest was a great improvement. i still remember how happy i was to get a bettis jersey with the new style when i was eight after having a rod woodson jersey in the old style before that.[/quote]
The current Steelers numbers remind me of bad Bears replica jerseys that were fairly prevalent in the 80s and 90s. You’d see “Jim McMahon” or “Chris Zorich” jerseys with 9s that looked an awful lot like that Steelers 9s.

For the record, I prefer the block style and I hate the logo on the jersey. The current number font is OK, but I really dislike the font they use for the NOBs.

Also, somewhere out there is a pic of him in a Raider uniform. It was part of a “what if” article in either the Oakland Tribune or SF Chronicle. Before he screwed over Baltimore and went to the broncos, his first choice was to play for the Raiders.

[quote]Let’s not be too harsh on Patrick either. He was a “savior” in the sense that he brought the Knicks out of a terrible stretch, got them to the playoffs frequently, and made them matter in NYC again.[/quote]

“the sneaker colorway=a free agent move to new York” argument is no more than media hype. Lebron also unveils new colorways in Miami and l.a. So does this spell an imminent move to the heat or the lakeshow?

Matt|
January 10, 2009 at 11:27 am |

sorry bud but LeBron is not leaving Cleveland in 2010….in fact, after the cavaliers win the nba championship this year, hes gonna exercise his option so he wont even be a free agent in 2010. don’t get your hopes up too much.

LI Phil|
January 10, 2009 at 11:31 am |

[quote comment=”309446″]Phil! Great job, bud. I was wonderingw here you got those point spreads from. My “source”, and other “sources” have the spreads at NYG -4, Carolina -10, Titans -3 and Steelers -6.

Weird numbers you have. A couple of those are a HUGE difference.[/quote]

got them from espn…even now the lines are very similar to last night…VERY surprised to see the ravens favored

[quote comment=”309453″][quote]Let’s not be too harsh on Patrick either. He was a “savior” in the sense that he brought the Knicks out of a terrible stretch, got them to the playoffs frequently, and made them matter in NYC again.[/quote]

[quote comment=”309458″]http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/PHO/AAEY002~Wade-Boggs-World-Series-Celebration-On-Horse-Posters.jpg[/quote]
I’m still in denial about this. So, in that sense, I wish it was just a great photoshop. Boggs was my favorite player growing up as a Sox fan. Even through Margo Adams.

[quote comment=”309456″][quote comment=”309446″]Phil! Great job, bud. I was wonderingw here you got those point spreads from. My “source”, and other “sources” have the spreads at NYG -4, Carolina -10, Titans -3 and Steelers -6.

Weird numbers you have. A couple of those are a HUGE difference.[/quote]

got them from espn…even now the lines are very similar to last night…VERY surprised to see the ravens favored[/quote]
All morning, the talking heads on SportsCenter have been talking about the Cards as 10-point dogs. Nice consistency there, Boo-Yah Network.

[quote comment=”309440″][quote comment=”309439″]Speaking of LeBron. I was just watching the tiny kitchen TV and some Boston-Cleveland highlights were on. I glanced up and thought it was the Lakers for a second or two[/quote]

It seems as thought the Cavs have a different uniform each time they take the floor, but I liked these.

Hey, I was watching on a 42″ HD and they looked like the Lakers.[/quote]

It seems the Cavs have a new uniform each time they take the court these days, but I liked these.

[quote comment=”309460″][quote comment=”309456″][quote comment=”309446″]Phil! Great job, bud. I was wonderingw here you got those point spreads from. My “source”, and other “sources” have the spreads at NYG -4, Carolina -10, Titans -3 and Steelers -6.

Weird numbers you have. A couple of those are a HUGE difference.[/quote]

got them from espn…even now the lines are very similar to last night…VERY surprised to see the ravens favored[/quote]
All morning, the talking heads on SportsCenter have been talking about the Cards as 10-point dogs. Nice consistency there, Boo-Yah Network.[/quote]

Yeah, I’m not sure what ESPN is doin here. I checked the vegas books (online and not), and all the lines are within a point or half point of the numbers I stated before. ESPN’s lines on that link are all out of whack. No wonder, the talking heads are not referencing them. The different spreads ESPN has, versus everyone else, would be a HUGE deal in the betting world. Note to self: Do not use ESPN for betting numbers.

[quote comment=”309453″][quote]Let’s not be too harsh on Patrick either. He was a “savior” in the sense that he brought the Knicks out of a terrible stretch, got them to the playoffs frequently, and made them matter in NYC again.[/quote]

[quote comment=”309447″][quote comment=”309444″][quote comment=”309442″][quote comment=”309436″]Li Phil:
Do you like the Steelers current number style on their jerseys or do you like the vintage block numbers which they had until 1996? GO STEEELRS !!!!!![/quote]

is there any other team at any level that uses that font? just curious. i like how it seems that the steelers are the only team with it. most teams have some form of block numbers, so these are a refreshing change. the best franchise in football deserves that kind of uniqueness. and putting the logo on the chest was a great improvement. i still remember how happy i was to get a bettis jersey with the new style when i was eight after having a rod woodson jersey in the old style before that.[/quote]
The current Steelers numbers remind me of bad Bears replica jerseys that were fairly prevalent in the 80s and 90s. You’d see “Jim McMahon” or “Chris Zorich” jerseys with 9s that looked an awful lot like that Steelers 9s.

For the record, I prefer the block style and I hate the logo on the jersey. The current number font is OK, but I really dislike the font they use for the NOBs.

I don’t recall the Dodgers ever wearing powder blues (and Dressed to the Nines confirms that), but these baseball cards (especially the first two) make it look like they did. Am I just seeing things, or what?

[quote comment=”309468″]I don’t recall the Dodgers ever wearing powder blues (and Dressed to the Nines confirms that), but these baseball cards (especially the first two) make it look like they did. Am I just seeing things, or what?

The Lebron IV Birthday weren’t Knick colors. They were designed to match the the Blue and Orange Cavs throwbacks from that season

The Ghost of Ross Gload|
January 10, 2009 at 1:42 pm |

Some of Kansas’ players appear to be wearing a black ankle support between their socks and shoes today, complete with uniform numbers. Never noticed that before, but then we don’t usually get a close up view of the shoes.

And it’s looking like that’s going to be the only mildly interesting thing coming out of the game against Sparty today. Ouch.

LI Phil|
January 10, 2009 at 1:49 pm |

[quote comment=”309471″]Lil Phil

The Lebron IV Birthday weren’t Knick colors. They were designed to match the the Blue and Orange Cavs throwbacks from that season[/quote]

thanks…i should have realized ANY color sneakers lebron wears will match a uni the cavs have worn recently…tha’d be a good subject for a future column…pics of every cav uni lebron has worn

About the Steelers’ typeface – personally, I much, much prefer the old block font, there’s something i the clunky, chunky numbering that fits the whole Steelers style to me. I can’t imagine someone like Jack Lambert in the modern style jersey that’s for sure. The classic block typeface seems to be sadly becoming less and less used and replaced by more curved examples.

The Lebron IV Birthday weren’t Knick colors. They were designed to match the the Blue and Orange Cavs throwbacks from that season[/quote]

thanks…i should have realized ANY color sneakers lebron wears will match a uni the cavs have worn recently…tha’d be a good subject for a future column…pics of every cav uni lebron has worn

…and btw, it’s LI (as in lawn guy-land) Phil ;)[/quote]

With all of the sneakerhead talk, it seems that I have finally begun to wear Phil down and pull him to the dark side.

Jeff P|
January 10, 2009 at 2:03 pm |

[quote comment=”309470″][quote comment=”309468″]I don’t recall the Dodgers ever wearing powder blues (and Dressed to the Nines confirms that), but these baseball cards (especially the first two) make it look like they did. Am I just seeing things, or what?

I think that’s just the way they were lit. At first glance, they do look powder blue, but they are most definitely gray.[/quote]
There could have been color filters involved to make the players look better or other things more visible with the coloring a side effect of that.

Also, somewhere out there is a pic of him in a Raider uniform. It was part of a “what if” article in either the Oakland Tribune or SF Chronicle. Before he screwed over Baltimore and went to the broncos, his first choice was to play for the Raiders.

john elway is the devil.[/quote]
The pic of Elway as a Yankee is legit. He was drafted by them in 1983, and I think he played one or two summers with one of their farm teams.

Beats in Buffalo|
January 10, 2009 at 2:06 pm |

Then there is always the speculation that King James will play for his Jay-Z in Brooklyn if that team ever actually makes the jump from New Jersey. For what its worth the proposed, rumored, made up by some guy on the internet, name of the Brooklyn Knights could be one of the coolest names of a team in all of sports.

=bg=|
January 10, 2009 at 2:11 pm |

It’s alleged we have an NBA team in the Bay Area. Never seen it, but I’ve heard a rumor. Would Lebron like to play here?

Sammy|
January 10, 2009 at 2:22 pm |

I can’t, in good conscience, wish the player of any other team, especially a rival, to my team, at least as far as photoshopping goes. I do not have player envy in that way, and I hope I never do. Imagining Michael Jordan, or now LeBron James in a Pistons jersey is fun, but sickening still. I pretty much dislike all players on all other teams enough that I would never want them. Even the Lions aren’t bad enough for me to put Tom Brady’s face into a Lions helmet. Plus, I really wouldn’t want to punish Brady that way.

I will admit that I got a little bit excited last year by the Terrelle Pryor-as-a-Wolverine photoshop jobs.

Ricko|
January 10, 2009 at 2:31 pm |

[quote comment=”309478″][quote comment=”309470″][quote comment=”309468″]I don’t recall the Dodgers ever wearing powder blues (and Dressed to the Nines confirms that), but these baseball cards (especially the first two) make it look like they did. Am I just seeing things, or what?

I think that’s just the way they were lit. At first glance, they do look powder blue, but they are most definitely gray.[/quote]
There could have been color filters involved to make the players look better or other things more visible with the coloring a side effect of that.[/quote]

Guys, don’t go all “Bill Nye, the Science Guy” on this. Photography, reproduction, printing and also the lighting in ballparks, arenas and stadia decades ago just aren’t what they are today.

It’s no big mystery. No special filters. Simply the all-to-common vagaries of coloring printing, color separations, etc., back then. Just write it off to that. Apply logic and move on. If a high-profile team such as the Dodgers had worn powder blue during that era, wouldn’t someone have noted it by now?

Still happens today, in fact. Think about it. How often have we all heard someone who has only seen the Yankees on TV argue up and down that their hats are black? And we calmly try to convince them that, no, they’re navy blue…but they don’t buy it. And we just wanna strangle ’em. LOL

—Ricko

Ricko|
January 10, 2009 at 2:37 pm |

Hall of Famers from the pre-merger NFL…

Joe Namath as a St. Louis Cardinal?
Lance Alworth as a 49er?
Fred Biletnikoff as a Lion?
Dick Butkus as a Bronco?
Gayle Sayers as a Chief?
Bobby Bell as a Viking?
Fran Tarkenton as a Patriot?

Those are the NFL teams that drafted them.

—Ricko

Ricko|
January 10, 2009 at 2:38 pm |

Or vice versa, of course.

rpm|
January 10, 2009 at 2:48 pm |

for what it’s worth, give me the steelers in block numbers, but the current fancy-pants numbers don’t bother me to the point of irritation.
as for favourite photoshop athletes, some 15 years ago, in the days before photoshop, i crammed a mini-helmet on my favourite cathlete, snapped some pixtures, and slapped them on some magazine covers. best buck ever

Looks like the Ravens are going with the solid black pants with their white jerseys. Titans going with what has become their “standard” home outfit, the powder blue jerseys and navy blue pants. Why they got rid of what was one of the best combos in the NFL (navy jerseys and white pants at home) is beyond me.

=bg=|
January 10, 2009 at 4:24 pm |

[quote comment=”309470″][quote comment=”309468″]I don’t recall the Dodgers ever wearing powder blues (and Dressed to the Nines confirms that), but these baseball cards (especially the first two) make it look like they did. Am I just seeing things, or what?

[quote comment=”309501″][quote comment=”309470″][quote comment=”309468″]I don’t recall the Dodgers ever wearing powder blues (and Dressed to the Nines confirms that), but these baseball cards (especially the first two) make it look like they did. Am I just seeing things, or what?

No, they wore powder blue (eye roll). Of COURSE it’s…
1) the lighting (least likely), or 2) the limits of non-digital photography, or 3) the less-sophisticated printing processes at the time (most likely). Color separations back then scanned for red, blue, yellow and black (in non-technical terms), and the degrees of each. Digital technology reads the full spectrum, virtually. Can’t help but be more accurate.

Looks at Sabo’s skin tones in that SI cover. WAY off. I doubt his skin was roughly the color of strawberry taffy. Looks like a badly tuned TV (too much red in the “tint”). Put a little more red in your TV right now and you’ll be convinced the Titans wear aqua jerseys, not powder.

No offense, but this is turning into a “Why green dot on helmet?” discussion.

Phil, I fear that I have been unsuccessful in tracking it down, but the Indianapolis Star ran a (well-done for the times,) doctored image of Michael Jordan wearing the home Flo-Jo jersey. It was a story about the Pacers having traded the #2 pick in the ’84 draft to Portland, thus blowing the chance at bringing the Air Emperor to Indy. Ah well.

jason|
January 10, 2009 at 8:57 pm |

steve smith has extra long shoulder stripes tonight. no screen shot, but is this something he has been doing all season? i noticed on one else’s stripes connect at the bottom like his does

Lomion|
January 10, 2009 at 8:57 pm |

[quote comment=”309508″]Gotta love those black playoff endzones in Carolina[/quote]
I guess I don’t mind the black, but the script on “Panthers” is totally lame. Have they been doing that for long?

The Lebron IV Birthday weren’t Knick colors. They were designed to match the the Blue and Orange Cavs throwbacks from that season[/quote]

thanks…i should have realized ANY color sneakers lebron wears will match a uni the cavs have worn recently…tha’d be a good subject for a future column…pics of every cav uni lebron has worn

…and btw, it’s LI (as in lawn guy-land) Phil ;)[/quote]

Sorry LI Phil. Probably shoulda gotten that i live in the tri-state area, but please go ahead with the LeBron sneaker post however it will be tough since LeBron comes out with so many signature shoes but I’ll be happy to help if you do

The Lebron IV Birthday weren’t Knick colors. They were designed to match the the Blue and Orange Cavs throwbacks from that season[/quote]

thanks…i should have realized ANY color sneakers lebron wears will match a uni the cavs have worn recently…tha’d be a good subject for a future column…pics of every cav uni lebron has worn

…and btw, it’s LI (as in lawn guy-land) Phil ;)[/quote]

Sorry LI Phil. Probably shoulda gotten that i live in the tri-state area, but please go ahead with the LeBron sneaker post however it will be tough since LeBron comes out with so many signature shoes but I’ll be happy to help if you do[/quote]

There are many who wish to wear the UW sneaker crown, but there shall only be one!

LI Phil|
January 10, 2009 at 9:19 pm |

[quote]There are many who wish to wear the UW sneaker crown, but there shall only be one![/quote]

Despite the lame team (first half excepted), I’ve long admired the Cardinals’ helmets. Doing a google search, I was surprised to find these helmets and face masks, not to mention the positioning of the logos. http://tinyurl.com/6sg3p2

Beardface|
January 10, 2009 at 10:03 pm |

[quote comment=”309511″][quote comment=”309508″]Gotta love those black playoff endzones in Carolina[/quote]
I guess I don’t mind the black, but the script on “Panthers” is totally lame. Have they been doing that for long?[/quote]
Pretty sure its been that way since they moved into Ericsson/Bank of America Stadium…

It was block lettering in Clemson. They might have used this script for a couple years before they changed the type of blue they used…

[quote comment=”309517″]Despite the lame team (first half excepted), I’ve long admired the Cardinals’ helmets. Doing a google search, I was surprised to find these helmets and face masks, not to mention the positioning of the logos. http://tinyurl.com/6sg3p2%5B/quote%5D
[quote comment=”309517″]Despite the lame team (first half excepted), I’ve long admired the Cardinals’ helmets. Doing a google search, I was surprised to find these helmets and face masks, not to mention the positioning of the logos. http://tinyurl.com/6sg3p2%5B/quote%5D

Do the Cardinal logos have google eyes?

scott|
January 10, 2009 at 10:37 pm |

[quote comment=”309500″]Looks like the Ravens are going with the solid black pants with their white jerseys. Titans going with what has become their “standard” home outfit, the powder blue jerseys and navy blue pants. Why they got rid of what was one of the best combos in the NFL (navy jerseys and white pants at home) is beyond me.[/quote]

Yeah, the Titans current uniform is so bad that it doesn’t deserve to have a spot in the Super Bowl. And it won’t (not that it would have, anyway, as the NFC rep. will likely be wearing the dark jerseys this year).

Taha|
January 10, 2009 at 11:00 pm |

Did anybody screen grab Moose Johnston in the booth tonight? His outfit is totally mismatched and looked atrocious. Brown plaid blazer, pinstripe shirt and blue tie with white polka dots. the only thing uglier in Charlotte is Jake Delhomme’ play

Ricko|
January 10, 2009 at 11:05 pm |

[quote comment=”309519″][quote comment=”309517″]Despite the lame team (first half excepted), I’ve long admired the Cardinals’ helmets. Doing a google search, I was surprised to find these helmets and face masks, not to mention the positioning of the logos. http://tinyurl.com/6sg3p2%5B/quote%5D
[quote comment=”309517″]Despite the lame team (first half excepted), I’ve long admired the Cardinals’ helmets. Doing a google search, I was surprised to find these helmets and face masks, not to mention the positioning of the logos. http://tinyurl.com/6sg3p2%5B/quote%5D

Do the Cardinal logos have google eyes?[/quote]

Mentioned this a while back…with the exception of making the Cardinal logo a bit more “fierce” a few years ago, that helmet including the gray face masks has been around since 1960. The Colts could claim theirs has been around longer, and it has…expect they wore white face masks for a few years in the 80s.

SUBJECT CHANGE: Went to T-Wolves tonight (haven’t lost in ’09. Go figure.). Wore their new blues at home for the first time. In the context that it’s a kinda design style that seems likely to be around in basketball for while, they weren’t bad. Not in person, anyway. The little bit of bright kelly green really helps. My son (who’s 25) was pretty “meh” about them. Said he liked the previous set (meaning last year) better.

—Ricko

LI Phil|
January 10, 2009 at 11:13 pm |

[quote comment=”309522″]The Colts could claim theirs has been around longer, and it has…expect they wore white face masks for a few years in the 80s.[/quote]

Yeah, World League of American Football, precursor to NFL Europe. The Rhine Fire, Frankfort Galaxy and them. Same league, just renamed somewhere along the way. Brad Johnson led London Monarchs to World Bowl championship.

[quote comment=”309526″][quote comment=”309523″][quote comment=”309522″]The Colts could claim theirs has been around longer, and it has…expect they wore white face masks for a few years in the 80s.[/quote]

Thanks, was trying to remember if they’d worn blue, too.[/quote]
I liked the blue. The gray masks are one of the only aspects of the Colts’ unis that I dislike. That truncated shoulder stripes are the other one.

Today: Ravens and Cardinals (Ravens crush the Titans and the Cards beat the spread but lose the game)
Tomorrow: a Pennsylvania sweep.

My Name is not Earl|
January 11, 2009 at 12:19 am |

I’m pretty sure that the Panthers used block lettering in the end zones in ’96, the first year of the stadium. I checked out the Jim Mora “diddly poo” rant (which he made after his last game as Saints coach, at Carolina in ’96) on YouTube the other day, and in the highlight reel leading up to the tirade the Panters’ end zones had the block lettering.

no. some espn guy was on local radio here in kc the other day and mentioned that this was the first time this has happened.

Ricko|
January 11, 2009 at 12:53 am |

[quote comment=”309530″][quote comment=”309528″]
Warner and Delhomme were teammates with…Rhine, I think?[/quote]
Amsterdam Admirials, I believe. And for the record it was Rhein Fire — German spelling, for whatever reason.[/quote]

But beyond that, I also remember a card company (Classic, maybe?) doing a whole set of “What If” cards on the eve of every NFL Draft back in the day. (Bledsoe on the Seahawks, Marshall Faulk with like 3 different teams, etc)